CBCP head warns Filipinos against political dynasties: ‘It slowly destroys the nation’

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AS Filipinos gathered with family for the holidays, the country’s top Catholic leader issued a reminder that when power is inherited like property, families meant to serve the public can instead weaken the nation.

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), on Monday, Dec. 29, warned against political dynasties, saying they turn public office into private entitlement and reduce governance into a family possession passed from one generation to the next.

In his holiday message, David contrasted self-serving political clans with ordinary Filipino families who quietly endure hardship, displacement, and uncertainty—yet choose compassion, faith, and unity over fear and control.

“Political dynasties, too, are families,” David said. “They protect their turf. They keep power within the clan.”

But unlike families that nurture life and community, he said, dynastic households often collapse under the weight of insecurity and rivalry, becoming destructive not only to themselves but to the nation they dominate.

“That kind of family is not life-giving. It is self-destructive. And when it dominates a nation, it slowly destroys the nation as well,” David said.

Acknowledging that Filipinos are rightly known for being family-oriented, David said the concept of family can be lived in “two very different ways.”

On one hand are families that treat politics as business, power as inheritance, and public office as private property. He compared these households to the biblical story of King Herod—fractured from within by fear, suspicion, and the struggle to retain control.

On the other hand, David pointed to what he called the “quiet families” of the nation: those who survive floods, fires, earthquakes, migration, separation, war, and economic hardship without fanfare.

“These are families that pray together, stay together, and journey together,” he said.

They are families that “widen their tents,” welcoming relatives, neighbors, and even strangers, choosing compassion over resentment and forgiveness over revenge.

“They do not make headlines,” David said. “But they carry the future.”

David’s message comes as the long-delayed passage of an anti-political dynasty law once again faces public scrutiny in Congress.

A bill branded as an “anti-political dynasty” measure has drawn criticism from reform advocates who argue that it risks formalizing dynasties rather than dismantling them.

Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña said the versions filed by House Speaker Faustino Dy III and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos do not genuinely curb political dynasties but instead legitimize them by setting limits on who may hold office—without ending dynastic control altogether.

“In the case of the version now that’s filed by the House leadership, parang hindi ito hinihingi ng taong bayan,” Cendaña said in a December 28 interview on One News.

“Ang sabi ng taong bayan, ayaw namin ng dynasty.”

Cendaña said a true anti-dynasty law must decisively restrict dynastic control of elected positions, not offer what he described as a compromise that preserves existing power structures.

“Dapat ang batas na lalabas is isang batas that will curb dynasties in our political system,” he said.

The bills filed on Dec. 10 propose disqualifying spouses, siblings, and relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity from simultaneously holding elective office.

However, they do not prohibit relatives from succeeding one another, running in different levels of government, or rotating positions across election cycles—strategies long used by political families to maintain power.

Cendaña warned that such half-measures would only reinforce patronage politics, which he identified as a major driver of corruption in the country.

“It’s a compromised situation for the Filipino people,” he said. “One of the reasons for our problem with corruption is patronage politics. We know the diagnosis of the problem.”

Calling for political will rather than accommodation, Cendaña urged lawmakers—many of whom belong to political families—to act against their own interests.

“This is not a time for compromise. This is a time for actual political will coming from our leaders,” he said. “Parang for once naman, tatlong dekada na silang bumoboto in favor of their family and personal interest.”

The 1987 Constitution mandates the State to prohibit political dynasties under Article II, Section 26, but the provision is non-self-executing, requiring an enabling law from Congress.

Nearly four decades later, no comprehensive anti-dynasty law has been enacted—largely because many lawmakers themselves come from political families.

Advocacy groups have long warned that unchecked dynasties weaken democratic competition, concentrate power, and entrench patronage politics at both the local and national levels.

Meanwhile, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has also called for the swift passage of key reform measures, including the anti-political dynasty bill.

In a recent meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), Marcos instructed Congress to prioritize four measures: the anti-dynasty bill, the proposed Independent People’s Commission Act, amendments to the party-list system, and the Citizens Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act.

“The President directed Congress to prioritize the following proposed legislative measures,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said, citing the President’s call for their immediate review and passage.

Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said Marcos also wants broad consultations to ensure the bills are comprehensive and reflective of public interest.

“Broad consultations result in better laws,” Recto said. “It is only by canvassing views and opinions from as many sources as possible that the nation is guaranteed a law that reflects its interests.”(TGP)